Residence Fort Wayne, Indiana | Name Oscar Underwood, | |
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Born August 18, 1949 (age 75) ( 1949-08-18 ) Marion, Alabama, U.S. Occupation Educator, pastor, community activist, author | ||
Oscar J. Underwood, Jr. (born August 18, 1949) is an American educator, author, pastor, and community activist. He is the founder and President of Cornerstone Christian College Preparatory School and Cornerstone Christian Bible College International. His work in urban education spans over 40 years and includes becoming the first African American Indiana Teacher of the Year and testifying before the United States Congress House Committee on Small Business on effective urban education methods. Underwood’s published works include Assassination of Human Potential, Burden of Hope: Transition, Retention, and Collegiate Black Men, and Bumblebees Can Fly: Developing the Inherent Power in Young Men of Color Needed to Achieve in Education and Succeed in Life.
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Early life
Oscar J. Underwood, Jr. was born in Marion, Alabama, and relocated with his family to Fort Wayne, Indiana at age three. He obtained a B.S. in Elementary Education from Indiana University in 1972, an M.S. in Educational Administration and Curriculum Development from Indiana University in 1978, and an Ed.S. and Ph.D. in Higher Education Leadership, Administration and Foundations from Indiana State University in 2007 and 2012, respectively.
Education
In 1977, Underwood became the first Indiana African American Teacher of the Year. In 1982, he accepted a principalship at Ralph J. Bunche Elementary School in Fort Wayne, a then- failing, low-income, 98-percent African-American, inner-city school. Within two years, student achievement test scores in every grade level rose to the highest they had been in the school’s then-history. In 1991, Oscar J. Underwood, Jr. left his principalship at Ralph J. Bunche and founded Cornerstone Christian College Preparatory School in Fort Wayne, Indiana. In 1998, Underwood testified before the United States Congressional Committee on Small Businesses regarding his strategies in urban education.
Ministry
In 1985, Oscar J. Underwood, Jr. founded and became Senior Pastor of Cornerstone Christian Worship Center (now, Destiny Dome Embassy at Cathedral of Praise Ministries International) in Fort Wayne, Indiana. In 1993, the ministry purchased a 46,000 square foot building. In 2000, the ministry opened Cornerstone Christian Bible College International in Fort Wayne, Indiana.